Promoting Organic Plant Breeding in Europe
Project Newsletter February 2016
Editorial
Dear Reader,
We invite you to join our networking activities and to tell us about best practices of breeding organic plant varieties, cultivating them or turning them into delicious food. Our project is not big, but we are happy to contribute to the important work of an international and diverse network of people that are dedicated to take care of the basis of our food system: Seed, plant varieties suited for organic farming and agro-biodiversity.
We invite you to join our networking activities and to tell us about best practices of breeding organic plant varieties, cultivating them or turning them into delicious food. Our project is not big, but we are happy to contribute to the important work of an international and diverse network of people that are dedicated to take care of the basis of our food system: Seed, plant varieties suited for organic farming and agro-biodiversity.
Our food system is at the crossroads between further “industrialization” and the conservation and further building of diverse, resilient structures. Global corporate companies are increasingly taking control of the genetic basis of our food. The mergers of ChemChina with Syngenta, Bayer with Monsanto and DuPont Pioneer with Dow, if approved by authorities, would accelerate the concentration in the seed market. Many companies aim to push plant varieties made with new gene technologies to the market and to claim property for plant varieties by applying for patents. High time to strengthen alternatives – independent plant breeding in small and medium sized entreprises, participatory breeding, seed networks – to build a resilient, sustainable food system that delivers tasty and healthy goods.
With great pleasure we share this 1st newsletter with you. This first edition will present the goals of the project Promoting Organic Plant Breeding in Europe as well as review the project’s main activities of the year 2016.
Yours sincerely,
The project coordination Team
Lina Lasithiotaki
Andreas Biesantz
Maria Kaiafa
Antje Kölling
Content:
Editorial
Information about the project ‘Promoting Organic Plant Breeding in Europe’
Background information about organic plant breeding
The project activities in 2016
Planned activities of the project in 2017
